Just Another Manic Monday

My head is full of images this morning.  Spent a couple of hours walking through VERY recent F2 tornado damage in North Minneapolis with my husband.
We happened upon the site only a couple of hours after the tornado struck and the neighborhood was literally in shock.  People sitting on their front steps of their damaged homes with trees uprooted and a shell-shocked look to them.  Everyone that we encountered was physically ok, but unfortunately there was no help for these people at first.

After nearly 90 minutes climbing around the damage and checking in with folks we finally saw our first police car and the beginnings of the city clean up crew.  Power lines were down all around us and people finally started clearing brush and trees mostly by themselves.  So sad, I have been thinking about it a lot today.

This did NOT happen in my neighborhood, but we were only a few miles away and all we got was the tornado siren and a large storm.

Thankfully the city is in clean up mode and it sounds like everyone is getting help at this point.

I have also completed drawing two more illustrations for my husband's iPad game he has been developing for months.  This is really his baby as he has a bit of a gamer geek past and has been coming up with ideas for as long as I have known him.  I just helped a bit with the creation of the sprite sheets, which were actually rather challenging!  I don't dare post them here as my husband is very hush hush about his game until we actually get approved by Apple.  I can say it is very similar to a casual game like Angry Birds but minus the design assistance of a large scale Finnish team.

Google IO and Hello Kitty

Can someone help me settle a nightly debate that I have been having with my husband regarding the realistic uses of the recently launched Android Open Accessory.  So what is this thing?  Well Google IO had it's fancy-pants annual conference a week ago in which it launched a whole bunch of awesome stuff that developers and techie geeks go nuts for.  At this conference Android folks announced the ability to create your own accessories using the Android Open Accessory Kit (ADK) which includes an Accessory Board.  This means you can use your Android device to control any electronic you may have, once you develop the app of course.  I have been developing iOS apps for Apple devices since last year with my husband, and we have been considering developing on Android platforms and the like.  My husband is really excited about this new launch but my question is what electronic device do I need to operate with my smartphone that I can't already operate by some other means.  Oh and did I mention that at this point it is not wireless?  I mean TVs already come with remotes.  HVAC systems have thermostats.  The example given by Google shows a Hello Kitty device of some sort hooked up to an Android device.  Gee thanks for the example Google.  I have been racking my brain trying to think of REAL uses for this and I am drawing a blank.....

Beauty blogger?

I wrote and published an ebook called Look Hot available now at the Kindle Store on Amazon.

The year I spent as a Raspberry Festival Princess appears to be paying off by the loads of beauty advice I received.  Who knew that learning how to stay in pristine condition for 10 hours on a hot July day while wearing a full length ball gown (and bodice) could come in handy!  Ok maybe not everyone needs to learn how to wave properly from a parade float but my book is full of really useful beauty and style information that actually works!
I am not sponsored or endorsed by any beauty products so my unbiased information comes straight from the mouths of real women and what really works. 

I have decided to re-open my blog to a broader range of topics, including beauty blogging, iphone app development, ebook publishing, being a princess, and my favorite title of all SAHM!

Although my love/hate relationship with the hoarders in my neighborhood continues to exist I have found myself friends with a lot of my neighbors and have some good ones finally hence the decline in neighborhood watch posts.

Please feel free to sample my ebook as well from Amazon, and soon to be available for Nook and the iPad iBookstore.  I know you will be pleased. :)