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Gimme a V! Gimme an O! Gimme an X! What's that spell? VOX!

What better way to tell the world how much you love Vox than to announce it on Facebook? That's right: Vox now has an official Facebook page! Become a fan of Vox.com on Facebook and let your friends know what you really care about: staying connected with friends and family through blog posts, photos, videos and comments.

Once you're a fan, you can also add photos and videos to the page, write on the wall, and connect with other Voxers in ways you may not have previously. Plus, it's a great opportunity to let people know about your Vox blog, or start discussion topics. To become a fan, just visit the official Vox.com Facebook page and click the "Become a Fan" button in the upper right hand corner.

Once you've joined, why not post a response to the current discussion topic? Just post a link (and a brief description, if you'd like) to what you consider one of your all-time best Vox posts.

What are you waiting for? Become a Vox.com fan on Facebook today!

Summer Road Trip '08

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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.

Packed and Ready!

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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.)

~daisy

1. Starbucks: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Evil Beverage Companies

I had nothing to do at the airport, so I bought a White Chocolate Mocha from the little Starbucks they had. Then I bought another at my layover airport. Then some more as I got rerouted and raped by the airline industry. Then I started getting Starbucks on the way to work, and when I didn't do that Nikki would stop by Starbucks for me. Weeks later I realize what I've done. I've become a hypocrite. All against big capitalistic we-make-it-easier-to-not-do-it-yourself-for-free I am ... but there I was bending over for a White Chocolate enema as 3.80 in coinage was forcibly removed from my coffers and for what? I have no fucking idea. Starbucks is evil. Coffee is evil. I like tea and I can make tea myself. I don't need trendy furniture around me or Coldplay coming out the god damned speakers AS IF THEY HAVE SOME KIND OF TALENT AT ALL!

So then I quit drinking that shit. I do, however, feel like a big troglodytic fuckhead for being sucked in so easily.

2. Weight or Lack Thereof

As you may recall, when I started all this with you guys I weighed a good 185, the most I have ever weighed in my entire life. I started my healthy eating and immediately lost ten pounds in about a week. I started working out seriously and dropped another ten pounds and remained there as muscle built up and fat went away. Unfortunately I fell rather seriously ill and stopped working out. I lost five pounds of muscle. If you have been tallying, I should be at 160 right?

Today I'm at 155. The weight I was when I graduated High School. I turn 30 next week.

You're damn right I celebrated with a huge sundae.

3. Headshrinkers and Play Therapy

I've been very quiet about it, because I'm ashamed of it. I have serious issues with social situations. I do ok with one or two people but I have severe anxiety attacks when forced to interact and socialize with groups of people. Recently it had gotten worse. I stopped going to the grocery store, I stopped going to gym, I neglected enrolling in school or looking for a second job ... all because I have this mental breakdown every time I start to think about having to talk or be seen by people in public. I know it sounds weird, but this has been happening to me since high school. I've never sought help for it and my family has never really seen it as a problem but four weeks ago I realized I was avoiding going outside and was even avoiding seeing my family. This disturbed me so I immediately checked my health insurance coverage and realized they covered up to 30 visits a year to a shrink. So I got me one. I picked the first one on my program that was accepting new patients and had a name I could pronounce. He turned out to be alright. I was able to say things that I wouldn't normally tell anyone and it felt good. He put me on Paxil which I'm still not sure about and advised that I start to see a therapist on a weekly basis. Again, I called up the closest family therapy office and asked for the first available therapist within my timeframe. So the next day I arrive at the office and sign my papers and all that jazz and I see this fat old wrinkly lady come in and smile at me and pick up my papers and I'm thinking "Oh great ... here's my therapist ... she's going to make me hug pillows and say things like 'Twinkies are our friends' ... Then, to my relief and disbelief, she said "Oh wait ... Erika, he's yours." Then this very young, very attractive 30-something girl who had been playing a video game on the computer stood up and smiled at me and ushered me into a small private room with big comfy couches. The first thing she says to me is "Now you're really my first guy close to my age that I've had ... so are you comfortable with this?"

Pshaw ... and Australopithecan boogeymen skateboard out of my ass.

To be Continued when I haven't spent all evening doing other things ...

I suddenly have many things to say.

I can't say them right now though because I'm at work.

I would like to give you a "Table of Contents" of sorts for tonight's eventual post because I like to spoil surprises.

1. Starbucks: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Evil Beverage Companies
2. Weight or Lack Thereof
3. The Surprising Adventures of Rich in the Paxil Universe
4. Headshrinkers and Play Therapy
5. People: Another One of God's Mistakes? Or Did He Do It to Us on Purpose?
6. In the Treehouse and Ghost Hunting
7. Tracy's Problem
8. I Want to be Cate
9. The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
10. Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman
11. Jesus Wept
12. Dwarves and Tall Men
13. Computers and How the Path of My Life is Strewn with Cowshit From the Devil's Own Satanic Herd!
14. Birthday Mysteries and My Birthday Wishlist
15. Writing: The Inhuman Condition

I hope you tune in for fantastic family fun ...

Thank you and Goodnight.

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!

Ault Park Map

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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!

~daisy

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.

6adogs

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And Penelope Trott took Rudy for a quick spin in her wagon while Mom and Dad were hard at work

Penelope and Rudy

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Update!:

I found this petition online plus more information as to their "reason" for killing queues.

http://www.petitiononline.com/netflix0/petition.html

I get this from netflix.

Dear Richard K,

We wanted to let you know we will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.

Each additional Profile Queue will be unavailable after September 1, 2008. Before then, we recommend you consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out.

While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.

If you have any questions, please go to http://www.netflix.com/Help?p_faqid=3962 or call us anytime at 1 (888) 638-3549. We apologize for any inconvenience.

- The Netflix Team

I sent this in response:

Your decision to eliminate the user profiles is bullshit. The only reason I picked Netflix over Blockbuster was because I could effectively manage a blend of genres to keep my viewing fresh. You cannot convince me that this has anything to do with serving the customer better. I am the customer and I think this sucks. This serves only stupid people and greedy fuckheads. Stupid people are content with a stream of continuous flash-type media. They don't care about delving into a range of entertainment to make them a well-rounded individual. I have several series that I want to watch in order ... but not one right after the other. I also don't want to spend more than five minutes setting up my queue to accommodate this. I have been very pleased with Netflix and their recommendation system. It's the highlight of my day to open my mailbox and know I'll be getting one documentary, one movie, a Star Trek, and one TV series. I think now I'd rather get one gun and one bullet in the mail to end this continuous disappointment with our uber-capitalistic culture. That might be worth the $25 I pay a month to be treated like a troglodyte watching shadows on the wall. You fucking suck.

I posted this on every open comment form I could find on the site ...

I recommend you do the same ... feel free to copy my complaint and use it.

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.")

Vox Themes June 08

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I have been silent some, yeah?

Well, it's because I have problems.

I haven't been able to write anything at all lately because I'm constantly distracted by things. Girls mostly. My sanity or lack thereof also.

Fear not kind people, I will have news for you soon. Today I depart for Knoxville, Tennessee, where I plan to visit THE WORLD'S FAIR and the newly built SUNSPHERE !!!!! Sadly, the humor of that statement is lost on some of you. I profess that thou art uncultured, good sirs and gentle ladies.

I'd like to share more of my life with you ... not because I think you'd care, but because I need to express myself more often.

I have been too silent.

I hope to change that.