I’m a big Muppet fan and here is a great example of Jim Henson’s work on Sesame Street.

All Cookie Monster has to do is guess what’s in the box and he gets a cookie. Can’t be that hard… right?

What’s In The Box? Is It A Cookie? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Unlocking the awesome potential of behavioral disorders.

Have you ever wondered the difference between Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?  Well Despair.com has just the answer for you. It seems that Facebook is a combo of narcissism and stalking where MySpace is narcissism and ADHD. Twitter on the other hand has all three! Go Twitter!

If you’d like, Despair.com makes this print available on a T-Shirt and laptop skin for your gift giving pleasure.

All You Need To Know About Social Media [pict] originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Live as if you’ll die tomorrow. Dream as if you’ll live forever. Words to live by.

via Butterfingers

Live & Dream originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

These are a few of the many Christmas cookies that our friends and family are enjoying this holiday season. Don’t they look delicious?

Anyone Want a Christmas Cookie? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Our Little Pumpkin

Lily in her ghost shirt.

Lily vs Pumpkins

L is for Lily

Thomas' Pumpkin

Red Skull Pumpkin

Candy Pumpkin

Happy Jack

Happy Halloween Everyone! originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Anyway, Matt Lauer did an interview with Cookie Monster to get all the details. Is he giving up cookies? Is he going to be the Fruit Monster? Watch and find out.

One of the best things about this interview is it’s poking fun at the media. I totally agree, the media does blow everything out of proportion and people just need to learn to relax.

Cookie Monster Giving Up Cookies? I Doubt It. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Monkey Painting for Lily

For Lily’s room, mom asked me to paint a monkey. And so I did.

When Lily is old enough, she can name the monkey whatever she wants.

Lily’s Monkey Painting originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

It’s always on.

Computer Face

Always on, always available, always ready to go. It’s not like TV where you plan our your shows, or sports where there is a defined season. Nope, it’s always internet season.

When it’s down, we freak out.

The Internet Is Down

Dear God, it’s controlling our lives. A 5 minute outage can feel like an eternity! Or worse yet, you spend an hour hitting the reload button hoping for something to load. We could be outside, enjoying life, but no, the internet is down and we need to do everything in our power to bring it back, even though it’s probably all Comcasts fault.

It’s everywhere.

Internet Draft $3

Home, work, motels, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops or anywhere you have cell phone coverage you can be on the internet. It’s harder and harder to find places to escape. That is if you can handle escaping.

Makes people angry.

Cat Angry At The Internet

From pages not loading, to things not working right, or fast enough, to much to do, whatever the excuse, it seems that the little things can really make some unhappy people.

News travels fast. To fast.

Fast

Across the world in seconds. That means that we are more informed about everything and that’s not always good. Just because a kid coughed in Mexico doesn’t mean I should be freaking out in MN about getting the swine flu.

Easy to fake.

Real iPhone & Fake Mini iPhone

No only does real news travel fast, but so does the fake stuff. You can whip up a rumor in seconds and get it to travel across the globe in no time. Remember how Steve Jobs died once?

Hard to tell truth from lies.

Add A Rainbow And It's All Good

Since it’s easy to fake, it’s hard to tell what’s fact and what’s fiction. You can’t be completely gullible, yet you can’t trust everything. Even big companies try to pass off lies as the truth.

It’s big. Like really big.

Big - Really Big Cat

You’ll never get to the end of it, it’s impossible. It’s just this ever growing web of tangled information that is to big to even try and comprehend.

Hard to keep secrets.

Shh It's A Secret

We’re about to have a baby any day now and I’m worried that if I get the call at work, before I’m even out the door the news will be on Twitter, then Facebook, and then my parents or in-laws will hear about it from a third party and feel like they were the last to know. I just want to control the flow of baby news and keep the birth a secret until I’m ready for everyone to know. However, secrets and the internet don’t mix well.

Once it’s out there, it’s out there.

As Seen On The Internet

Information travels from one blog to the next. It hits social sites, or news sites, and it’s really hard to get back. If something private accidently goes out, chances are, it’s forever on the internet. Scary huh?

It’s Addicting.

Homer Addicted To The Internet

Ever sit at your computer at 12:30 a.m. and think to yourself, just one more stumble, one more tweet, one more blog post? Yea, me too. How do you think I found time to write this post. Sorry sleep.

Stupid Ads.

Internet Advertising

Not all ads are bad, but pop-up windows (even the web 2.0 ones), flashing banners, and sites that are made just to sick a crap load of advertisements on suck. Sometimes, I just want to read your content but can’t due to the overwhelming advertising.

People are mean.

Mean People Suck

It seems that when no one really knows you are which means you can hid behind your keyboard and be a jerk really easy. People grow a nice set of balls on the internet and it’s unfortunate that they use them for evil and not for good.

There is always something new.

Cool Apple T-Shirts

Everywhere you turn there’s a new funny picture, a new cool video, a new free service, advancements, upgrades, gadgets, posts and so much more! It’s all shinny and new every minute of every day. Even when it’s old, if you haven’t seen it before, it’s new to you.

We believe it.

I Want To Believe

Have you ever had someone say “I read online that….” Really? You read it online so that makes it true? Sometimes yes, but where did you get your information? WebMD or joecool.blogspot.com? Believe it or not, not everything on the internet is true!

Everyone’s an expert.

Learn How To Be An Expert

No degree is needed, just say you’re an expert and wa-la. You can a lot from so-called experts like: how to cook, second languages, become a priest, do sugary, or you can even learn to build a house. All this and more From some “expert” who took the time to blog it or record a video.

It can spread hate.

Start Love. End Hate.

The internet does a great job of connecting people, except when it connects the sickos or bad people. I’m sure I could find many sites that support hate, discrimination and other things that would be better off not being talked about.

You can learn bad bad things.

Kill Stab Die

Wanna learn how to make a bomb? It’s on the internet. Want to learn how to get away with murder? It’s on the internet. It’s sad, but it’s out there.

Lack of privacy.

Nowhere To Hide

If it’s in the news, it’s on the internet. If it’s on the internet, everyone can access it. If it’s personal information, it’s not always private. You just might be amazed at what people can find out about you via the internet.

It can be used against you in a court of law.

Do Bad Things, Put Them On The Internet

Yea, so if you choose to do bad things they can take your computer and track your internet usage and use it against you. Or maybe all they need to do is look at your YouTube videos, Facebook account, or any online site where they may find you incriminating yourself. So I’d avoid doing bad bad things if I were you.

Everyone’s a critic.

Gawker Media

Movies, music, people, and even your random blog posts are all available for criticism. People love to tell people how much they, or something they like, suck. Why can’t we all just be friends?

However…

Even with all its faults, I still love the internet.

21 Reasons Why The Internet Sucks originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

These themes can’t even begin to compare to some of the great Firefox themes, but it’s nice start.

Google Chrome Themes Are Mac Friendly originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Blogger FAIL - How can I be over 100% done and how can we have published more files that we have available?

Dreamweaver FAIL - If everything is complete, why do I have a progress bar?

Microsoft Office 2008 FAIL - I'm sure the issue is due to a floppy too. Wait, didn't those go out of style in the 90s?

Spotlight FAIL - Only 494,642 hours remaining!

Battery WIN? Nope FAIL. It says I have 53 hours but it's lying to me.

When Software FAILs Me. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Here are some skydiving photos my wife took along with some photos the skydiving video/photo guy took.

Skydiving Photos! originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

The whole experience was great. I think I was more nervous thinking about it than I was actually in the air and falling to the ground. It was a lot of fun and I’d definitely do it again.

My father in-law, Mike Soldan, also wanted to go skydiving so we invited him along. He was a bit more scared with the experience but had fun too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Skydiving Videos! originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I think all Garth Brooks fans are waiting on Garth. Waiting for new music, waiting for a tour, waiting to see if he’ll return. Lets hope so!

Garth Must Be Busy Music Video originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Hypercolor clothing was around in the late 80s to early 90s and was quite popular. The shirts were one solid color, but when heat was applied, it changed to another color. So things like hugs or other people touching your shirt would bring out a new color.

It was a fun idea, but flawed. It seems that if you were nervous you could change the color of your shirt by sweating. You could also improperly wash the shirt rending it no longer color changing. A bit touchy if you ask me. There are quite a few times where you didn’t want your clothing changing colors but it would anyway.

Either way, Hypercolor shirts are hard to come by these days, but not impossible. Your best bet is grabbing one of eBay or looking for them at garage sales.

Did you own a Hypercolor t-shirt? Do you still?

Hypercolor T-shirts – Flashback Fun originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

No, I don’t work for Google, but it’s a promotional item for Google’s profile pages. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

Ohh and you can see my Google profile here.

My Google Business Cards originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

This year, I decided to turn 29.1 instead of 30.  Now, it’s not that I’m afraid of 30, but I just felt like it sounds better if I stay in my 20’s a bit longer.

Yes, it’s true, I’m now 30.  Back when I was a kid there was not internet, no cell phones, no SUVs.  We had Intellivision, Garbage Pal Kids cards, and three channels on TV that you had to get up to change.  These whippersnappers today have it so easy.  Ha ha, there is my old man talk for the day.

To me, age is just a number. I still feel young and extremely blessed to have a great wife, a nice house and a young one on the way.  I’m ready for  my next 30 years!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Both songs are available on iTunes or Amazon.

Today I turn 30, or 29.1. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Some songs are timeless.  The advice Baz Luhrmann dispenses is still good today and everyone can learn from it.

What kind of memories does this bring up for you?  Or is this your first time hearing it?

Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Home desk with the lights off to get the best effect.

Work desk. Not as cool with the lights on, but still it’s the most festive desk in the office.

Do you decorate your desk for the holidays?

My Desks Decorated With Christmas Lights originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Black Hat vs White Hat SEO – I had an fun talk with a kid who goes to the UofM and does Black Hat SEO.  He said he didn’t have the patients for doing things the right way, he just like making things happen now.  A lady at our table asked us the difference between what we do, as it sounded pretty much the same, and I said, “He does it fast, I last longer.”  Tell that to a lady who’s had a few glass’ of wine and her mind will connect something else and we all had a good laugh.

Where your name tag goes - Did you know your name tag goes on the right side of your shirt?  That was news to me and I was made aware buy a lady who said she secretly laughs at all those that put it on the left.  She even threatened to walk around and inform all those who were improperly wearing their name tags.  I think the wine as making her a bit happy too, but she denied that.  Fun conversations though.

Cough when you sleep? Prop yourself up. I got into a conversation about how everyone was getting sick.  I mentioned that my wife had a bad cough when she talked on the phone or slept but other than that wasn’t really sick.  Someone mentioned that they recently had that bug and offered up the advice that if you prop yourself up a bit with an extra pillow at night, you’ll cough less and sleep better.  We tried it out and it seemed to work.  Great advice!

The question of the night came from another lady that asked me if social networking was really valuable.  Does making a lot of connections with people you’ll never really meet make a difference?  Wouldn’t it be better to have 5 face to face contacts instead of 50 virtual contacts that you don’t really know?  It was a very good conversation and there is no real clear answer.  Yea I have a lot of Twitter contacts, but I only really know a small handful.  Then there are those who’s opinion I value, even though I’ll probably never meet them.  Then there are the rest.  Is all this virtual networking really doing anyone any good?  It’s really all in how you look at it I guess.

There were no MIMA gifts, not that I expected any, other than a free drink and food which is good enough for me. Actually my biggest gift I got for myself. I parked underground and the parking garage was probably in the 50s.  By the time the MIMA event was over, my car was snow and ice free!!!!  That made my night right there.

As always, the MIMA events are a fun way to get out and connect with others.  Some of them are in your industry, some of them are you competition and others are just there to have fun and make interesting conversation.

Things Learned at the 2008 MIMA Holiday Party originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Take a look:

The funny stuff doesn’t get going until about 2 minutes into the video so keep watching.

SNL’s Hilarious Holiday Balls Sketch originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com