Although we typically post on Team Vox to let you know about things that are going on with Vox (to, uh, state the obvious), once in a while, we like to let you know about other cool things that are happening around the blogosphere. And we think the idea of four hilarious mommy bloggers traveling across the U.S. on their way to the BlogHer '08 conference - all the while blogging and video blogging the journey - is one trip you will not want to miss.
Four adventurous bloggers from the Silicon Valley Moms Group were selected to participate in the Summer Road Trip '08 and blog about their travels, hotel stays, media appearances, time away from their families, and life on the road. Six Apart helped them partner up with General Motors, who provided the blogging mommies with a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV to help make their journey comfy, safe, and a little more green.
In case you're not familiar with them, SV Moms is a group of over 200 bloggers who showcase the ups, downs, outrages, struggles, victories, and everyday humor of motherhood. There are currently nine regional and demographically tailored sites that give mothers from D.C., New Jersey, the Deep South, Rocky Mountains, L.A., and Silicon Valley a powerful voice and sense of camaraderie across the country. Whether you're a mother, a child, or just a person who enjoys a good blog, you'll really love reading the words of these amazing women.
The moms buckled into their Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV on July 11th and even got an encouraging message from Katie Couric to kick things off! They are currently somewhere in the middle of America making their way to San Francisco where they'll attend an SV Moms Group Party, as well as BlogHer '08.
You do not want to miss these entertaining and irreverent bloggers -- or their spontaneous contest giveaways! -- as they blog from the road. Experience the journey at MomRoadTrip.com.
And let us know about your summer road trip - or plane/boat/bus trip - in the comments! (I like to live vicariously.)
Got it about 3 weeks ago. Internet was down. Camera was goofed up. Finally got around to uploading pics.
Do you live in or around Cincinnati, Ohio? If so, you're in luck because Scott and the Queen City Voxers Group have organized a Vox user meetup!
WHERE: Ault Park Playground. 3600 Observatory Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. "We'll look for each other at the playground marked by the red X below. If it's raining, head for the shelter to the north of the [red] X."
To RSVP (which is not essential, but is appreciated), reply to Scott's announcement or send him a private message. All Voxers, as well as their friends and family, are welcome to attend.
If you do attend the meetup, have a great time and please take lots of pictures and send them to me so I can post them in Team Vox for everyone to see!
Thank you so much to Scott for organizing this meetup. Wish I could be there!
Yesterday, I took the day off work to take care of a few things. The local theatre does free movies for kids during the days all summer long. This week they were showing Firehouse Dog. Since I was off, we took the girls and met a couple of others there for the movie. The movie is about a dog that is a movie star (notably the star of "The Fast and the Furriest") and he gets lost and is trapped in a building when an arsonist catches it on fire.
The show the arsonist later making more of his timed fire bombs. He sets one of them down on a table and the camera pans to show about ten more just like it on the table. Also on the table are the remains of cigarettes and cigars. When these were shown, Ashli states loudly, "uh oh, he smokes." I almost couldn't stop laughing.
Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the summer solstice. For ancient civilizations, this day was akin to our modern day New Year's Eve and was viewed as a time to reflect and renew. So why not kick off your summer celebration with a new theme?
See all of our themes in the Design Area.
Or choose from one of these brand-new themes. (Available under "New.")
This past weekend, I took the beginner motorcycle course. Here in TN it costs about $200. I had a dirt bike for a while when I was a kid, but it had been about 15 years since I had ridden. Gas prices along with a longstanding interest in motorcycles urged me to take the course.
Friday 06/13- Classroom work. We learn basic laws and instruction. It takes about 4 hours and we see lots of videos.
Saturday 06/14 7am- We all meet up at a middle school for actual riding in the parking lot. Our Class starts with 24 people. We are split into two groups due to there being only 12 motorcycles. I was amazed at how quickly most of the stuff came back to me. The whole morning emphasised clutch control and this really started an aching feeling in my left thumb. I am not the only one feeling it in the thumb. One girl quits because she can't force herself to hold in the clutch anymore. Her mom and her husband were with her and they quit too because they wanted to do the course together.
Right before lunch we lose someone else. I was taking the class with my friend Ken and we were sharing a bike. While I was riding he was watching and vice versa. I was watching Ken weave through some cones when out of nowhere from behind him comes another bike with a 16 y/o kid on it. The bike is obviously driving the kid and not the other way around. Ken never sees him. CRACK! The little 16 y/o is asked to leave and Ken is not hurt but a little shaken. The kid was taking the class with his dad. His dad decided he would go on without his son there. Just so you don't think they kicked this kid out for one thing, he had been trouble all morning. He was either not listening or incapable of learning. I think everyone was glad that he was gone, although, Ken was talking to his dad and his dad said that he was going to buy him a bike anyway to learn on. IDIOT!
At about 2pm we head out for the classroom for the last bit of instruction and the written test. 100%, but it was pretty easy.
Sunday 06/15 7am- Wow, Saturday really took a toll on me, and I am a little tired. It is hot and muggy. Going 10-20
mph part of the time isn't really building up a breeze. We do some challanging exercises. The U-turn is not fun and had a lot of people stressing out. The S-Curve had been dreaded since Saturday because everyone could see it painted on the ground and new that it was coming. The S-Curve turned out to not be supervised and wasn't that difficult. We later found out that it was the same turning radius as the U-turn.
They taught us about countersteering and that is an interesting thing. It goes like this: To make a turn at speed you push down on the handgrip in the direction you want to go. If you think about this, pushing down on the handgrip turns your wheel to the opposite side of where you want to go, but only for a split second. It actually helps facilitate a lean in the direction of choice. You do this naturally by instinct from learning to ride a bicycle, but not knowing about it can cause you to crash in an emergency situation. When you try and turn the wheel or pull back in the direction you want to go causing you to go the opposite direction into what you were avoiding.
After lunch we did our driving test that consisted of the u-turn, swerving, emergency stop, and high angle curve. Everyone that was left did well on their test (even if a few of us brainfarted on an event), and we all passed.
It was a lot of fun and I would suggest it to people even if you have no interest in getting a bike. It could just be a fun weekend activity.
A couple of months ago, we told you about Blog It powered by TypePad, the first cross-platform blogging application for Facebook the enables you to post to your Vox blog - and ALL your blogs - with a single click.
Within a week, Blog It had nearly 4,000 active users posting tweets and creating blog posts, as well as updating their status messages with the title and link to the published post. Today, Blog It's Facebook application has nearly 10,000 users. But here's the thing: You're not always sitting in front of the computer when the inspiration to blog strikes. And at Six Apart, it is our goal to provide you the tools you need need to blog where you want, and when you want.
Which is why this week we introduced Blog It for iPhone, a free web application just like the one we introduced for Facebook - only now - on your iPhone. Built specifically for iPhone's Safari browser, Blog It for iPhone enables you to post blog entries or status updates from wherever you are to more than a dozen different online services. And just like the original Facebook version, you can choose to share your posts with the people you know across various social networks.
To start blogging with Blog It for iPhone, go to http://blogit.typepad.com with your iPhone's Safari browser and install the Blog It icon onto your mobile desktop. Then, all you have to do is click the Blog It icon and start creating posts!
Whether you're riding the bus to work, cheering on your team courtside, or enjoying a picnic by the lake, now it's easier than ever to Blog It.
We will be performing scheduled maintenance on Vox tonight (Friday, June 6, 2008) from 11:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. PDT. Although we don't anticipate this maintenance to be highly disruptive, we always like to give you advance notification when there is a slight chance of some downtime.
As always, thank you for your patience - and have a great weekend!
Update: There WILL be downtime between 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. PDT. so please plan accordingly.
