On the release day of the newest Narnia movie, I give you “Lazy Sunday”.

Image from Buttersafe

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Call it ironic

Call it lack of focus

But as it turns out, while I’ve been admittedly derelict in my maintenance of the Awesome on this site, I have actually volunteered to guest blog on a friend’s gaming blog this week.

In a five-part series none-the-less.

I’m really not sure how I will turn out, so I won’t link it here, but I did think it was worth exploring what’s going on in a way that did not amount the “sorry I haven’t blogged lately” post that’s so proliferate.

I’ve worked 13 of the last 14 days and was a ball of rage and frustration and energy and ideas and stress for at least 10.9 of those 13 days.  The best way I can summarize this week at work is “Balls”.

Yep, balls.

It’s an adjective now.  Deal with it.  Embrace it.  Help it spread it’s wings and soar.

Or crash awkwardly into the bin next to my desk.

Either way, stress levels have been high, and I actually didn’t turn on my tv this week until Friday morning.  Other days I skipped dinner, was late to social commitments, and drank at least triple my usual amount of coffee.

(Hooray for that last part)

So when I saw everyday that I had not updated my blog, it began to represent a duty that I wasn’t handling well.  It is not at all that writing in my blog isn’t fun or therapeutic or slipping on my priorities list.  It was just that I allowed my writing, any writing, to turn into an obligation, and in a week filled with obligations over-run and not met, this just joined the heap.

Then in the midst of it all, @loganwm suggested we do a podcast.  Talk about a new challenge and a way to reinvigorate my creative juices!!

To be clear, I have really no idea what goes into making a podcast.  I’m sure I’m about to offend quite a few people when I say that it sounds like a couple folks, usually dudes, sitting around, drinking beer, talking about the news or sports or video games or boobs, or all of the above, and that REALLY sounds fun.

So this week I started researching by listening to other podcasts and reading up on the logistical side as much as I could with about 3% energy left after a day at work.  However, this was enough to get me thinking about some ideas to develop for the show, and also about community.

Then I remembered that I have a pal who writes a blog about gaming and figured I’d hit him up with a few ideas and maybe see if he wanted to have a piece on file to put up as a guest post the next time he goes on vacation, gets sick, hung-over, new episode of The Simpsons is on, whatever.  Turns out, his reaction was better than expected, and as I sit here and write this, I currently owe him five posts to put up starting Monday.

Oh yeah, and I’m working on moving my blog to my own hosted site.  (“Hooray!” / “It’s about time” / “Way to be behind, noob!”)

But I had to put this up first.  I still have my priorities.  Have a great weekend.

Sort of has a Frank L. Baum – Wizard of Oz feel to it, no?

A lot of times billboards are sloppy, ill-conceived printed versions of brands shouting at us, conditioning us to believe that society says we need to spend our money on their product.  The worst are when I see a billboard so low that it blocks part of a building from view, thereby adding to the crowded sense of the city and removing most options for great street art.

However, today I stumbled across a blog post by none other than Shepard Fairey, one of my three favorite street artists ever, discussing a social movement very dear to us citizens of Phoenix: SB-1070 (or as I like to call it The “hey, want another reason to hate AZ” Bill)

(For previous blog about Street Art and SB-1070, see here)

Whatever your stance on 1070, anyone who disagrees with the basic Americana of political discourse is a liar or a dullard.  It speaks to our roots as a nation that we want to be represented, we want our voices to be heard, we want government “of the people”.

It is impossible to be more American than to form an opinion and express it loudly, clearly, and concisely.

So you should see why I really liked the idea presented below.

We can’t stop now. We must keep fighting this unjust law that will effectively institutionalize discrimination against the Latino community.  Proceeds from the “We Are Human” print go to immigration reform organizations such as the one below!  Please take a second and support.

Brave New Foundation’s Cuéntame asks:
If you can help us raise $10,000 by Monday, July 26, Cuéntame will purchase a billboard on a populated street in Phoenix showing the law for what it really is. The powerful line for the billboard has already been chosen on Facebook by the members of Cuéntame. Now all we need is your support.  Please help us in our next step to send a giant message to the Arizona government.

Brave New Foundation’s Cuéntame, has made major headlines this week for its video interview with Arizona Police Officer Paul Dobsonspeaking out about draconian Arizona anti-immigration bill, SB1070. Officer Dobson is now under investigation for exercising his first amendment right to speak freely about the real effects of the law:

“I know people will not call the police in case of a real emergency. This law is purely racist and solely focused on Latinos. In my opinion, SB 1070 violates equal protection under the law.” Paul Dobson, Patrol Officer, Arizona

We are making a difference and our voices are being heard by hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Cuéntame’s work with Officer Dobson has been featured in USA Today, Arizona Republic, New York Daily News, FoxNews and more!