I was directed to this video. A friend in San Francisco was linking to something about Mormons, so I had to read it. Turns out it was a video showcasing a calendar of shirtless Mormon missionaries.

I don’t really understand the agenda of Mormons Exposed. Is it a homo-erotic thing? Is it a Mormon thing trying to embrace tolerance? The website isn’t helpful:

“The fact that twelve young returned missionaries are posing shirtless will certainly raise eyebrows, but may also help to sort out some common misconceptions about Mormons. The shock value of what these traditionally conservative young men have helped to create has the power to build a dialogue that encourages people across every belief system and walk of life to defy stereotypes and embrace tolerance.”

Most importantly, the comments on YouTube have drawn ire:

ppldestroyppl: Morons i mean mormon’s are such repressed people, its sad and i’m glad i’m not mormon anymore. WAKE UP PEOPLE

Atemporal: It’s beyond ludicrous to think they’ll break ‘misconceptions’ by playing the sex card. Just pathetic how far they’ll go to sell their little preposterous/outdated/idiotic lie about life.

I’m not Mormon. I was teased and tormented by Mormon children all through my childhood. I have some bitterness, but seeing these comments makes me angry. Don’t mess with my homies, man. Only I get to do that… apparently…

Via: MinJungKim.com – Braindump v 5.0 » MormonSexPosed

Utah Geeks!

It has been too long since we last got together for a CodeAway, but you only have to wait a little while longer. Our next event is in a few weeks.

If the weather is good, I thought we could create CodeAway t-shirts. I did something like it this month:

• Pick Me! » How To Spray Paint Your T-Shirt With A Stencil

Bring a blank t-shirt and we’ll have some supplies available. If you want to blow everyone away, create your own logo for CodeAway and bring it along as a stencil. I’ll have a few stencils to choose from by then, so if all you want to do is bring a t-shirt, then you can look like one of the cool kids!

Here are the details for the October CodeAway:

Date and Time: Saturday, 10-06-07 1pm-5pm

Location: SupaSecret Location! Contact Laura Moncur to get the address.

Feel free to bring treats, your laptop, your Nintendo DS and your buddies! See you in a couple weeks!

Here are a couple photos from July’s CodeAway:

More photos here: CodeAway: SLC Geeks – a photoset on Flickr

My cute little weblog is now four years old today!

She can reach the light switches and open door knobs now. She feels so very independent, even though she’s just a little girl.

Happy birthday, Pick Me!

May you have many more!

“The designer of that ad has no concept of physics.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“First, both sides of the can look like something has exploded out of it, but there is no ball on the left side.”

“Not only that, a ball on a chain is usually swung and that is more of a bullet trajectory.”

We both nodded at the atrocity of the billboard and the light turned green.

• @ ThomAllen Why don’t you pay Matt to make one for you. He’s pretty good. Of course, he’s really busy now… #
• @ ThomAllen If you have Photoshop, you could do it. #
• @ ThomAllen You could download the free version of Photoshop from Adobe and get it done quick. #
• @ ThomAllen I think it’s crippleware or it expires quickly. #
• @ jasonalba Good night. #
• @ ThomAllen Wow! Good job! #
• @ ThomAllen Did you find that Photoshop download? #
• @ ThomAllen Shucks… #
• @ ThomAllen cool #
• @ JesseStay And that had to be SuperSecret because? #
• @ JesseStay LOL #
• @ ruperthowe DUDE! Put the tools down and go to bed! You’re just going to make things worse. #
• @ ashbuckles Yes, I’m going to the Blogger dinner. Just found out it’s the 27th. #
• Bedtime for me. Good night, Twitches! #
• Good morning, Twitches. #
• Bad dreams made me sad today. #
• @ libel_vox ash and thom What kind of trouble have you boys been up to? I’ve never heard of Doba.com #
• @ ruperthowe Did you ever get that DVD burned? #
• @ ThomAllen Give me a link. #
• @ ashbuckles So, is Doba going to stop spamming you? #
• @ medajunkie Twitter Tools works really well if you have a WordPress blog. #
• @ mediajunkie With WordPress, you can use Show In A Box, though… #
• Now I’m wishing I signed up for the Guy K event. #
• @ Jasonalba Knock ’em dead, tiger! #
• @ ruperthowe Wow… #
• @ ruperthowe It’s more amazing that the drive works at all. #
• @ ruperthowe Sending good karma your way. #
• Anyone up for a geek lunch today? #
• I’m open for eating anywhere. Anyone else interested in a geek lunch? #
• Where should we go? #
• I’m in Sugarhouse, but I have no fear of driving. #
• Sounds good to me. What about you Thom? #
• Geek lunch today at the Porcupine Grill at noon, everyone! #
• At Porcupine Grill for geek lunch. Am I the first one? #
• Back from Geek Lunch! Thanks Steve and Clint! #
• @ caseymckinnon PuzzleQuest is VERY awesome! http://tinyurl.com/yuer46 #
• @ ThomAllen You can do it! #
• Set my work goals so unreasonably high that I feel like a failure even when I do well. #

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You are looking at my new SLC Geek t-shirt. I made it using a stencil and spray paint and you can do the same.

Materials:

• An idea
• T-shirt
• Adobe Photoshop
• Cardstock Paper (at least 110 lb. paper)
• Exacto Knife
• Shoebox (or something else to stretch the shirt around)
• Testers Spray Paint

Make A Graphic:

I created this graphic in Adobe Photoshop. I was trying to make it look like the SLC Punk graphic from the movie. It’s not perfect, but it looks good enough to me. If you’re creative, you can make your own graphic or you can download mine. (If you live anywhere but Salt Lake City, I recommend changing the city name.)

• SLC Geek – Alterable Photoshop File

• SLC Geek – .jpg File

Download the graphic, print it up on card stock and use an Exacto knife to cut out the black bits. Here’s what it looks like once you’ve finished:

Here is a precise tutorial on how to create a stencil using Photoshop:

• Stencil Art…Creating Stencils – Online Tutorial at Melissa Clifton

Spray Your Shirt:

The next step is spraying your shirt using the stencil. You will need to stretch your shirt around something to keep it flat while you’re spraying. I used this shoebox, but you may need something different depending on the size of shirt:

I used Testor’s spray paint because it was something that we already had in the house and the label said it worked on fabric.

One note of caution, we haven’t washed our shirt yet, so we have no idea what it will look like after a few washings. Considering the ink jet transfers are good for only one washing, I think the spray paint will be fair better.

We spray painted outside, but you could do it in your garage just as well. We just don’t like the fumes and we don’t have a garage.

We centered the shoebox in the shirt and placed the stencil on the front.

Spraying was fairly easy. Make sure you spray it from one side and then go around and spray it from the other side as well. The image will come out a little clearer this way.

Once you’re sure that you have full coverage, you can remove the stencil and allow the paint to dry for one hour with the shoebox still inside the shirt.

After that, it should be dry to the touch and you can hang up the shirt to dry for three more hours.

Other Ideas:

• My shirt has the overspray around the stencil. I like that look and planned for it, but if you want something cleaner, you can attach paper to the edge of your stencil so there is enough coverage to prevent the overspray.

• I only used one color of paint, but you can use many, creating a rainbow effect.

• This stencil can be used to paint other things, like your walls or posters. I’ve seen people get old records from the thrift store and paint them with their stencils and hang them on their wall. You’re only limited by the law. Don’t paint things that you don’t own.

If you try this project, please leave a link on my comments so I can see all the creative things you are doing!

Update 09-22-07: We have washed this shirt and the Testers paint survives the wash just fine. Make sure you allow 24 hours of drying time before washing and make sure you wash it before you wear it (unless you like smelling like spray paint).

• Software for Starving Students needs a Digg if you’ve got one for them: http://www.softwarefor.org/ #
• @ missbhavens Ryanne’s handy, I’m not. Yet I was able to do it. If I can do it, I KNOW you can. #
• Where is everybody? #
• @ ashbuckles Good morning! #
• When is the Blogger Dinner? #
• When is the Blogger Dinner this month? #
• @ msjen Sending good karma your way, babe… #
• @ whyisjake Wow! You guys went from 17 Diggs to 440 in a hurry. Good job! #

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I was on a newsfast, but I heard about it before the second plane hit. I was on my way to a work meeting downtown. I turned on the radio and the DJs on X96 said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I immediately broke my newsfast and turned the radio to KSL 1160 AM to get the full story. I continued driving to the company meeting.

The news spread fast among us. We all knew. We wondered if our company would go ahead with the company meeting.

They did.

They didn’t even mention what was happening in New York. By then, the second plane had hit and there were rumors of a third plane. I used my cellphone to get headlines from CNN, but it was painfully slow back then. Even now I’m amazed at what that little Motorola StarTac could do back then. I sat in utter awe that our company wasn’t going to say anything. They called up the motivational speaker to the stage. He accepted the lackluster applause and said, “I’m sure a lot of you are worried about what’s going on in New York. I decided that I’m not going to let the terrorists stop me. If I spend time worrying about what just happened, then the terrorists win.”

He went on to give the motivational speech that he was paid to deliver, but I don’t remember one word of it. As soon as he was done and our company leaders took the stage again, I walked out of the auditorium. By then, my phone fed me the rumors that the Pentagon had been hit and there was another plane that might need to be shot down. I wasn’t about to listen to a word more.

I found a television in a back room of Little America. Employees of the hotel and my company were huddled together in that room, watching the first plane hit the building, then the second. They kept showing the footage over and over. The smoke came out of the buildings and I remember hearing an interview with Orrin Hatch accusing Osama Bin Laden of this atrocity. I shook my head. I was sure that it was home-grown terrorists, just like the Oklahoma City Bombing.

I thought foreign terrorists would attack us in our tender spots. They would want to destroy the landmarks that we, as Americans, hold dear and the spots that represent our evil, materialistic ways: Disneyland, the Mall of America, the Statue of Liberty, and The Smithsonian. The WTC and the Pentagon? That sounded like something the ethnocentric militias of the Midwest would attack. Silly me.

I had work that day and my clients called to make sure I was still going to be there for them. I was. They would have been homeless if I had let despair conquer me, so I made sure the terrorists didn’t win in my small part of the world.

I came home to watch the planes hit the towers over and over again on CNN. I told Mike how the company that I worked for didn’t even mention the attack.

I quit working for them before the anniversary of the event.

• @ Ladanea I’ve found that praying the rosary is also an effective meditation technique. I wonder why the meditation books skip these. #
• Just woke up from a nap after a long, hot day at the Utah State Fair. I want a goat and a bunny. #
• @ Ladanea That’s true. I had to alter the rosary prayers substantially to work for me, but most people aren’t willing to translate. #
• @ jasonalba LOL! #
• @ jasonalba Congrats on the radio show! #
• If you like to walk or run, you can compete with other people on Runner+: http://www.runnerplus.com/ #
• @ jasonalba I’m just barely starting to get back into things since my grandpa died. He raised me, so it’s like losing a parent. #
• Good morning, Twitches. I’m up and reading RSS. #
• @ danieljohnsonjr All that office jockeying seems inconsequential when I work from a corner of the dining room. #
• @ ashbuckles I don’t know how you do it. I would scream, "Elope to Vegas!" at everyone of them. #
• @ ashbuckles But how do you DO it? How do you support something you don’t believe in? #
• @ ThomAllen Great Zod! It’s not even Halloween yet! Hide the Xmas music and make her plan her costume! #
• @ ThomAllen That’s too much Jebus for me. I can barely handle hearing Xmas music in the stores for two months. #
• @ ThomAllen Buy her some really good earbuds. That’s just noise pollution! #
• Heading to the treadmill for some exercise. #
• @ ashbuckles Congratulations! Now that they are only $400, they’re worth it and how! #
• Finished exercising back to reading Twitter and working. #
• @ kitykity Mike paid about $80 last month. He doesn’t have the unlimited messages. The Internet IS unlimited, though. #
• @ kitykity Reality is like the rate plans. They haven’t billed us for anything stupid or surprising. #
• @ missbhavens Choose your battles #
• @ Ladanea Which gym?! Please tell me it’s 24 Hour Fitness! #
• @ Ladanea 4 HOURS?! I’d leave and come back for her. #

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I’m still out of sorts. My friend emailed me pictures of herself pregnant and full of belly. It’s hard not to be jealous. It’s hard not to be bitter. It’s hard not to take it personally when she knows my situation. Why would she email me those pictures?

She was feeling fat and she needed someone to tell her she was beautiful.

So I sent her an email telling her she is beautiful.

I’m still jealous and bitter, but now I’m angry at her for being inconsiderate. It’s time I realized that I’m her friend, but she’s not mine. It’s like those social networks where you make someone your friend, but they don’t add you back. I don’t think she has ever added me to her network.

Why did it take me 22 years to notice it?

• @ JesseStay Mike has been pretty happy with the coverage we #
• @ JesseStay with AT&T. The EDGE networks isn’t nearly as slow as the Sprint network. #
• Instant Jott (from jott.com) #
• @ JesseStay 2 years is either unexpectedly short or interminably long depending on their service. #
• AT&T has been good for us for the last 2 months. Hope they keep it up. I’m upgrading to iPhone in October. #
• @ kitykity Summer is our slow time so we’re poor until October. #
• @ JesseStay just read your blog entry. Go ahead with the Zune. Sounds like it’s a better option for you. #
• @ Chuckumentary Yeah, Chuck. We get it. Ethanol is cool. Get it in the pumps in SLC, UT and we’ll use it. #
• @ Chuckumentary So does driving a Prius and they are hella easier to find than an ethanol station in the middle of nowhere. #

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• @ alizasherman Sleep? #
• @ alizasherman Aahh… It’s 8:20pm here, so I’m just about ready to crash. #
• DM ThomAllen I’m doing better. Thank you for caring. Need to set up another CodeAway. #
• @ alizasherman horrid. #
• Nighty, night, Twitches! #
• Good morning, Twitches! #
• Yeah! My Twitter friends are awake! Hello! #
• @ JesseStay The iPhone is awesome and now that it’s cheaper than the newest Treo, there is no excuse not to. #

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Nicole gets a new WordPress t-shirt in RED and I have nothing to show for it.

Where’s mine?

Remi Nicole – Go Mr. Sunshine

I wish I had found this song at the BEGINNING of summer. It would have been the perfect drivin’ to Vegas song!

Video is brilliant, by the way. Watch it!

Newspapergrl noticed that no one was ranking for the phrase “Utah Woman Blogger.” Within an hour she was number one.

• Newspapergrl | Internet Marketing | Affiliate Marketing | Business Blogging

Well, I am a Utah Woman Blogger as well, but somehow, I feel uncomfortable with that title. When asked to describe myself, I say that I’m a writer. Then I go into a strange apology about how I write on the Internet for several weblogs and strangely enough, I’m able to make a little bit of money at it.

Saying I’m a Utah Blogger isn’t a problem for me. I’m proud that I’m from Utah. I’m proud that Mike and I have been able to make this Internet thing work for us, even though we weren’t hatched in the loving arms of San Francisco.

I guess it’s the “woman” thing that I’m having a problem with. Yeah, I’m a woman. I love being a woman. I wouldn’t change it for a moment. The problem I’m having is that a funny little phrase called “Mommy Blogger” has turned up lately and it is always used in almost derogatory terms. I’m not a mommy, but if I was, would that make my writing any less? Somehow the idea of being a woman blogger has been mixed up in my mind with that “Mommy Blogger” idea and is something I want to shy away from.

Next time I hear a geek say the term “Mommy Blogger,” I think I’m going to punch him in the face.

• @ missbhavens http://tinyurl.com/2xe3m5 #

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• @ michaelverdi I just used the text editor that came with Windows, but I know that most people want something more. #

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This is one of those times when I don’t have anything to write. I don’t want to write and I feel crappy about it. Ever since Grandpa died, I haven’t wanted to write and all the weblogs have gone dark. I know he wouldn’t have wanted that. He was the kind of man who prized work above everything.

Hard worker.

I don’t think you could give me a better compliment than that and it’s all because of how I was raised: by my mom, my dad and my grandparents.

I haven’t been much of a hard worker lately. I think I’ve been wallowing in it a little. I’ve been doing my best to achieve one good thing a day. Do laundry. Change the sheets. Empty the suitcases. Anything to mark it down as an achievement. Honestly, I feel like I can’t do anything more.

Stacey and I had a talk today and she said that being forced back to work actually helped her, so here I am, forcing myself back to work. A good day is six units, so I’m doing six units today.

This is number one.

• I told myself that I was quitting Twitter, but I just turned it on. Do you think I need an intervention? #
• Yeah that was stupid. Twitter off. #

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A few years back, a bunch of stickers that said “Bush” were stuck to the stop signs around Sugarhouse. I’m sure there were lots of variations of these stickers that graced the stop signs of more liberal areas, but Utah only saw the “Stop Bush” variation.

Here are the counter-revolution stickers:

• Counter-Hippie Stop Sign Stickers – More Stuff – Glarkware

I think these are funny and I would buy them, but I’m not nearly tall enough to reach a stop sign to stick them up. They are jokes without a punchline otherwise.

Part of me wants to buy them anyway and get a little ladder out to stick them on the signs in broad daylight. Wouldn’t I look like a prim dowager?

Via: gadgetgirl: snicker

• @ Bonny It doesn’t hurt after 3 or 4 times. Be tough! #
• I’m up. Raisin Bran for breakfast, despite stomach pain that will ensue. Oktoberfest today with the Moncur family. #
• The Twitter Blocks is almost completely useless. Why did they put it online when it’s so broken? #
• Everyone is sleeping, aren’t they? I’m here all alone again. Where are my friends in GB? They’re usually awake right now… #
• Twitter is freakin’ BROKEN! Meri is twittering away, but she doesn’t show up in my timeline. I’m following her and notifications are ON! #

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This looks fun.

Plus, James Marsden in tights. What more could I want?

I thought this video might be making fun of Michael Jackson. Despite all his weirdness, I like him, so I was prepared to be angry. Instead I was pleasantly surprised.

The video doesn’t tell you who the artist is, so here are the facts: Mitchell Brothers – Michael Jackson (Calvin Harris remix). I can’t find this song on iTunes or at Amazon. If any of you know where you can purchase it, leave a link in the comments.

I wish I could move like Michael Jackson, too!

• @ TheDruidXpawX Hey! I’m going to the Geek Lunch! Is no one following me? #
• @ JesseStay Thanx. I was beginning to think this microphone wasn’t on. #
• Hey, all, the Twitter IM is dropping messages… AGAIN. Better just keep refreshing Twitter to get everything. Bugger… #
• @ jasonalba & robertmerrill Geek Lunch today at noon at Thai Spice at 845 E and Fort Union. You in? #
• @ ashbuckles I know your people signed up for it, but I’d feel guilty at the thought of placing 10,000 phone calls in a day. #
• @ libel_vox You coming to the Geek Lunch today? #
• @ libel_vox I’m so confused… :) #
• Okay, I’m leaving for the Geek Lunch now. See you guys soon! #
• At the Geek Lunch. I needed this today. #
• Great Geek Lunch! Thanks, TheDruidXpawX! #
• @ jensimmons I do that ALL the time. Our baby would have been finishing high school if we hadn’t gotten a cat instead. #
• Another teen selling magazines door to door. I wanted to tell her to get a job at K-Mart like I did. It’s easier and she’d earn more money. #
• Scanner crashed my Mac AGAIN! This project has been hell. #
• Scanning in family heirloom photographs. So many unknown faces. #
• @ JesseStay Wow. Two bails in one day. #

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Wow…

We should have asked her if she could find the USA on a world map. Do they not have maps in South Carolina?

• Hello, all. Don’t worry about me. I’m still sad, but doing my best. Tomorrow is the graveside service in SLC. Thanks, everyone for asking. #
• @ ashbuckles Send your brother our love. We are eternally grateful that he is willing to serve. #
• dm danieljohnsonjr Oh yes! That’s why you sounded so familiar! Thank you for everything. I’ve enjoyed the posts from quotesblog, btw. #
• Scanning family photos Stacey found in the basement. Everyone will want a copy. #
• Ate, gassed up the car and now I’m scanning photos again. Is this white haired man my great-grandfather? No labels. #
• Yes, that white-haired man was my great-grandfather. #

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It’s the first time we’ve gassed up since we were in West Yellowstone on Saturday. So many days have gone by but I have just been lazy. I’ve read a whole book, slept a lot and cut my hair. That’s it. No work. Not even scanning the huge box of photos. Lazy.

Just like the car, I’ve been lying dormant.

• Bed. Still sad, but working on feeling better. #

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• Good morning, Twitches. Still sad, but intent on feeling better today. #

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It had been too long since I last cut my hair. Two years too long, actually. I decided to get my hair cut this morning, which was probably not a good idea since I’m still a mess about my grandpa’s death. Once I got the idea into my head, however, it took me only the time to get to the hairdressers to get it done.

I decided to cut off enough for Locks of Love. They take your hair and make wigs for children with cancer, so that seemed like a good reason to cut off all my hair. Well, that and the fact that showering would take half the time. Once I looked it up online, I was surprised at how easy it was to donate. They have a few restrictions, but my hair has never been color processed and it was two inches longer than they needed.

If you’d like to donate your hair, you can send it here:

Locks of Love
2925 10th Avenue N
Suite 102
Lake Worth, FL 33461-3099

For more information:

• Locks of Love helps disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss

• Back to SLC. Still sad. #
• @ JasonAlba Congrats! You DEFINITELY need to go! #
• Ramen and tofu for breakfast. Still sad. #

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• @ basykes Yeah, Bev! Welcome to Twitter! #
• Update: My grandpa is still dead. No amount of funeral planning will bring him back. #

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• Still in Billings. Stuck here until Friday morning. Funeral Thursday. ‘Nother funeral in SLC the Thurs after. This is hard. #

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I needed this today. I try to convince myself that it will be easy once I find peace. Maybe so.

Until then, I have a eulogy to write…

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

• Made it to Billings too late. My grandpa died when I was about an hour out of town. I’m sad right now. #

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Stacey kicked me out of the house. She and Mom are cleaning Grandpa’s house. He would never let us clean his house when he was alive. I know that there is no afterlife because the ghost of Grandma would have haunted him for neglecting her house so much. Now we’re cleaning for her.

Stacey kicked me out of the house, so my father and I are taking his son to the park to swing. The squeak of the equipment is strangely calming.

• Wow! Twitter came back! #
• On the road to Billings. Just past Bear River. #
• On the road to Billings. Just past Bear River. #
• Looks like Twitter SMS is down again. Bugger! #
• Just hit Rexburg. Hope it doesn’t hit back. #
• On the road to Billings. Just past Bear River. #
• Just gassed up in West Yellowstone. Waited too long to eat… shaky. #

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There’s construction. We are all stopped and I’m stuck behind a trailer. It professes to be Ultra Lite Weight. I don’t believe it.

At least the scenery is pretty.

This photo should have posted on Friday August 17, 2007 at 2:12pm, but Flickr and my phone were acting up.

***

I’m getting 47.6 mpg in the Prius on the way to Billings. My entire family is following me. They’re about five hours behind me.

There’s rain in Yellowstone, family. Drive safely on those two-lane roads because no one else is.

I waited too long to eat and I’m shaking as I eat my sandwich from Subway: turkey and cheese. They don’t have seafood. Shucks…

I’m three-quarters of the way to see Grandpa. Rumor says he’s not doing well at all. Gotta see for myself.

I just passed the Idaho border. Driving alone IS lonely, but not as bad as I expected. Thanks to all my Twitter friends for keeping me company. I can’t respond while driving, but I’m not as isolated when my phone sings Twitter.

One state down, two more to go.