Halloween 2010. Because we don’t take anything lightly!

Let’s see… It was Kate’s inspiration, Candice’s coordination, Roo’s implementation, Pete & Tricia’s perspiration, and Jake’s mesmerization (OK, made that one up!) that made 2010 the best year yet for Halloween.

It all started last November [2009, really? yes] when little Miss Kate decided that she had to be Darth Vader for Halloween 2010. Candice thought, “OK, we can do that,” up until the same little Miss decided that the family had to be in on it and dress as Star Wars characters too. “Well, maybe this will die down by next year,” was the next thought [read hope]. Yeah, didn’t come true. When Kate was still discussing it full force in early summer, and she already had Tricia signed up to dress as Chewbacca [Tricia's already got the costume of course, don't ask], well, the gig was on. Candice decided that the path of least resistance would also be the most fun. In addition to Kate as Vader and Tricia as Chewy, Jake would make the perfect Luke Skywalker, Pete would be Obi Wan Kenobi, and Candice, ahhh yes, she had the distinct pleasure of Princess Leia. “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” But wait you say, Pete doesn’t dress up for Halloween… ever [really never ever never ever]. But oh, the joys of having a little girl. Kate melted Pete’s Grinchy heart and he conceded to dress in costume, just for her.

Light sabers were purchased, color appropriate of course, and costumes started to arrive in August. When Candice’s arrived but didn’t work and a good robe for Obi Wan was hard to find, the best seamstress ever [otherwise known as Grandma Roo] was enlisted for the siege. And boy did she deliver.

First, let me introduce you to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

  

Then we had to reenact the epic battle between Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi. Don’t do it Obi Wan, you know how this turns out.

But would Obi Wan listen to Luke? No…

And now for the ensemble almost all together…

And complete post trick or treat. Luke’s a little worn out.

Happy Halloween 2010 to one and all!

Around the world in 24 hours

Microsoft’s annual giving campaign is coming to a close–for those friends who haven’t heard about this, it is one of my favorite parts of working for the ‘Soft. All year long we’re able to exercise a great benefit to match dollars or hours we donate to our favorite charities. But during October, we collectively focus as a company to take time to reflect and act on how we can make the world a better place. Some events are large in scale and goal, like the MS 5K (thanks again dear Sis and crew for such an awesome job) on October 15th raising upwards of $100K for 3 great charities: Summit Assistance Dogs, Boys and Girls Club of King County, and CCFA- Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Some events target more fun pastimes, like an Oktoberfest beer garden held in a nearby cafe offering great samplings on craft beers–raise money for great charities simply by raising a stein. But this year I was lucky enough to fall into my most favorite event to date–24 hours to run/bike/walk around the world and change it all at the same time.

An amazing team was inspired to combine charitable donations + a truly global 24 hour-long event + real-time coverage for the whole team! Each participant made their own donations to Kiva, a micro-loan organization “connect[ing] people through lending to alleviate poverty.” If all 24 hours were covered, executive sponsors would kick in even more funds. And during the event, each leg “passed the baton” with real-time emails, Facebook postings, and photos. The event tag line: ”Help us span the globe.  Help us change the world.  One hour at a time. Walk.  Run.  Give.”

Unfortunately, Doug, the owner of the AK time zone leg, had to back out the day before the event because he’d fallen seriously ill. Pneumonia, definitely not something to mess with. The event coordinator reached out to the Giving Campaign planning community for help, and I was honored to get his spot. Little did I know how uplifting this community building event, that actually had me jogging for an hour on my own, would be. To cover AK, my time slot was 5-6pm on October 28, 2010. But it all started about 10am that morning when the emails from the other time zones started coming in. People sharing photos, stories and Facebook postings of all their amazing experiences from literally or virtually around the world. Others who weren’t running/walking would jump in and share their support, encouragement, or congratulations. It was infectious, and a little bit out of control, but in a very good way. Finally it got around to 5pm in Redmond and I couldn’t wait to be a part of this great event. So to have a good kick-off, I enlisted Atsuko to help me take a photo letting the group know that AK was being well represented, and to let Doug know I wanted him better soon.

For my AK hour coverage, I decided to jog into Redmond and back to my building, basically Studio A to RTC and back, on the inter-urban trail. It made for some interesting views. Here’s the view on the right on the way to RTC (don’t you just love the eastbound 520 traffic?).

And the view on the left.

Much calmer! The weather was cloudy, damp, and cool. Completely typical for Redmond, and almost perfectly on par for AK that day. By the time I got back to Studio A, the sun was close to setting and even though I could barely feel my fingers, I decided to get a closing shot to cheer on HI and Pacific; the only 2 time zones left after me.

As the evening wore on, I got to see more and more photos pour in from my backyard and around the world. Each was spectacular for the common goal we were achieving. It was a great event! Something I hope to blatantly copy next year. I can’t wait.

Scoreboard Operator revisited

There was a professional photographer taking photos for folks on the field when I was the Scoreboard Operator at the Mariner’s game.  After some emails we finally got copies of the photos!

We even got one with the Mariner Moose (and Kate with her Felix Hernandez jersey)!

The Gamerscore Odometer continues to climb…80000

Friday night I clicked over on another milestone, 80000 gamerscore.  Yes, I play a lot of video games.  Yes, I have a loving wife who lets me play lots of video games.  Yes, I’m already getting my kids into the mix and playing video games along with them.  I’m the luckiest guy in the world!

Just the other day one of my co-workers sent me this.  He ran across it at the Rocket Riot site and thought of me instantly.  What can I say…he’s right!