I’ve been so caught up with performing SIRvice I’ve neglected a far more important thing. My cousin is running a half-marathon in order to help the Tourette Syndrome Association raise money because my niece has TS. Here’s what my sister-in-law has to say:

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Tourette Syndrome is no laughing matter!

Please sponsor my cousin who is running a half marathon on behalf of my daughter to raise money for the Tourette Syndrome Association!

http://www.active.com/donate/ns11/AT4KM

As a teenager, I remember watching an episode of Maury Povich where they were showing kids doing bizarre things. Apparently they had this strange disorder called Tourette Syndrome. I’ve seen numerous characters portrayed on TV (remember Ally McBeal?), in movies and comedians, making fun of Tourette Syndrome. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that one of MY children would be born with this nuerobiological disorder! But that’s exactly what happened! In December of 2001 in just a matter of weeks, my well adjusted, popular, happy go lucky 8 year old daughter started jerking her head repeatedly. It caused her so much pain yet she couldn’t stop doing it. Then she started uttering “sh!t” under breath over and over again. No amount of punishing or time outs would make her stop. When she started having explosive outbursts of anger we knew something was wrong. It took almost a year of waiting lists, appointments, a pediatrician, a psychologist and a neurologist to give us our answer we did NOT want to hear. My daughter has Tourette Syndrome. School became difficult for her. She lost friends. She was being bullied. she was in pain from the repeated use of muscles which werent designed to be used the way they were. She was depressed. She was having rage episodes. We couldn’t bring her with us in public as that just made things worse. When we did bring her places I usually came home in tears. Hurt by the way people, stared at her, mocked her, laughed at her. Adults, children, teenagers, the elderly, grandmothers, you name it, we’ve been bullied by them. We’ve even been discriminated against. She was asked to leave a tap class at a studio she had been dancing at for YEARS. They said a noise she was making was distracting (a noise that sounded like a hiccup was too distracting for a TAP class!!!???). We’ve had to leave movie theaters. We’ve even been verbally assaulted at Disneyland.

More important than these social issues, Tourette Syndrome HURTS. Katelynn has TMJ now from her jaw muscles being over used. She has headaches and eye strain from days when those muscles are over used. She has had back pain and neck pain.

Some days she has rage episodes. Many people with TS experience this. Following one of these episodes Katelynn experiences and extreme amount of guilt and slips into depression and doesn’t get out of bed!

Despite these challenges, Katelynn is a shining light for any one who knows her. She’s truly is an inspiration. She loves instantly and without judgment. She is the most steadfast and best friend anyone could have. She is selfless and funny and has a joy for life that is rarely seen.

My saving grace during those early years was the Tourette Syndrome Association. They were a light in a very dark tunnel. For FREE, they gave me very much needed support. They gave me the tools to navigate the SST process in the public schools so that we could get an 504 Plan for my daughter. They gave me resources on how to educate everyone we came across. they do in service sessions at schools for teachers and kids. They pointed me to doctors, gave me access to the newest research in drug therapies and treatments. The TSA gave me ways to talk to my daughter about Tourette Syndrome to help build her self esteem. They gave ME the knowledge I needed to educate even our very own doctors!

The TSA funds research to find a cause and cure for TS. They also do a fabulous job of raising awareness of what TS is. The recent shows you’ve seen on Oprah and HBO can all be attributed the TSA.

We very much want to give back! My cousin is training hard to run this half marathon. If you have it on your heart, please donate to this cause! If you cant donate at this time, that’s OK, but please spread the word and share the link below on all of your social networking sites!

http://www.active.com/donate/ns11/AT4KM

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I screwed up folks. I should have posted this A WHILE AGO. I didn’t. Right now, however, my cousin is in the home stretch of reaching her goal. Because of my neglect I wanted to make sure that on this day we push her over the top, reach the goal, and help the TSA as well as letting everyone no that Tourette Syndrome is not a joke.

If you can just donate one dollar it could make a difference.

Thank you for your time.

-Will

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I just overcame a technological hurdle after changing web hosts. I’m glad I finally did because I haven’t been happy for along time with my last host because they royally sucked when it came to keeping my sites secure. Security aside the added benefit of my blogging software working again is the aforementioned hurdle that now allows me to once again sit on a train and type this into the net-o-sphere.

If you re-read that last paragraph you may notice at I said sites and not just site. I have more domain names than I know what to do with. I only wish I was able to support my family and provide them with the quality of life we’ve come to expect while being able to dedicate my working day to all of the ideas that I have for all of these domains. I want to create. I enjoy creating. I want my creations to entertain people. Is it wrong to want to do these things and make money at the same time? I’m sure many a struggling artist would tell me where to stick my wants but you need a destination to move forward to, don’t you?

I have a belief that it is an individuals sheer force of will that makes these types of desires become a reality. If you want it you have to struggle for it to show the universe that you’ve earned it, you deserve it, and you will care for it once you get it. This may be some holistic type of hippy bullshit thinking but it seems to have proven itself time and time again in my life. If you seem something happen over and over, if you see the pattern that keeps occurring, you would have to be pretty dense to not capitalize on it. I think I’m at the point where I need to capitalize on it, figure out my roadmap on how to do that, and take some action.

In a completely unrelated note from the stream of consciousness that comes from typing on a train I have to ask the masses why they have to have loud and obnoxious ringtones on their cellphones? I keep mine on vibrate out of respect to those around me. You don’t need what you are doing interrupted by the Super Mario Theme or Ozzy screaming “All aboard…” before the Crazy Train riff kicks in so I keep it quiet to be kind. Is this me being over-considerate or are others rude? Thoughts?

This train ride is just about up and I want to see what my buddy Trent is up to on his Less of Him adventure.

-Will

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I really had the best of intentions when I said that I would sit down and write something every day this year. It was aggressive, it was bold, and it was just a senseless and stupid thing to try to do.

I know that saying a goal of trying to improve my writing by actually flexing that writing muscle every day probably isn’t the best way to frame things however I really should have known better. My original plan was to at least use my iPhone to sit down and write things while on the train. I quickly learned, however, that trying to type things with just my two thumbs on a very hard to use keyboard was a definite hinderance to the creative process.

The reality is that while on a commuter train the space is cramped, I’m not exactly a small guy and trying to use a laptop just isn’t practical. I have to find another way. I’m hoping I have found another way. Only time will tell. Even if this new way works I have to overcome another hurdle: trying to write about something first thing in the morning or at the end of the work day when my brain isn’t exactly in top form. Again, time will tell.

I hope the year is going well for all of you out in Internet land. Mine seems to be taking some really interesting and exciting turns that I hope I get a chance to talk more about soon.

-Will

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I was very (and shockingly) pleased with American Idol last night. I guess I should hop over to The Televisionist and write about it.

-Will

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Sometimes you start a goal with the best if intentions thinking that with all of the tools available it should be pretty easy to do. Writing here everyday was the idea. Performing it in a practical fashion appears not to be.

I originally thought that with the WordPress app and my iPhone I could easily write in here every day. The logic seemed simple and sound. It’s far easier and less cumbersome than trying to use my laptop on the train. I’m sure it doesn’t do much for my thumbs trying to tap this all out but it doesn’t bother me yet. So what could be the issue?

I’m having a go at this again because they just updated the iPhone app. Prior to this, as can be seen in a fee posts, there was some issue with line breaks. Somehow the app was putting them in prematurely or by it’s own character count standard. This produces a choppy looking article that you then have to fix later. I’m not saying that I don’t have enough time to do this, but we aren’t talking video or audio here so I shouldn’t have to “fix it in post.”

So that’s the deal. This entry was done to see if the issue has been fixed or not. If it hasn’t I will finally bite the bullet and just haul out the ol’ laptop.

-Will

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