Author: Wil

A much needed update on Kris.
I haven’t had a chance to write about Kris’ progress in over a month (last entry was March 10th when she came home from the hospital).
I saw Kris at home the day after she left the hospital. She was very happy to be home but looked tired. She had lost most of her hair again and the blisters on her hands and feet from treatment were really hurting her. I didn’t stay long because of the flood of phone calls and visitors stopping by. I hugged her goodbye, and told her I’d see her next week.
Kris came to visit me at my work about five days after coming home. She came in and I almost didn’t recognize her. She lost her eyelashes, eyebrows and color in her skin. Her hands were peeling so badly I couldn’t believe she could even hold anything. I was a little shocked. But as soon as she started talking, I was at ease. She’s still her old self. Funny, energetic, sarcastic. It was great to see her out and about. She just has to avoid being around crowds or anyone with the sniffles so she doesn’t get sick. Her immune system is really low so she could get anything and not be able to fight it off. We talked about regular stuff. The kids, vacations, husbands working too hard. It felt so wierd to me that she’s been through so much yet it feels like nothing has changed. Well, except for all the side affects from her treatment. And even that we talked about like it was this thing separate from anyone we know. It’s like the stuff that’s happening to her body is so separate from who she is that it’s almost like watching it on The Learning Channel.
I left last Thursday for a long weekend of birthday celebrations for some out of town friends. On my way home Monday, I was checking messages. I had one from Kris that she left that Sunday. She said she knew I was still gone, but just wanted to let me know she was back in the hospital and had been there since Thursday. I was worried sick so I immediately called her. She said she had gotten a staph infection in her Hickman catheter (a catheter that is surgically implanted into the chest that goes into the heart to receive chemo and other medications). She had a fever of 102.5. If she had waited any longer, it would have been fatal. She was trying to make light of the whole thing, saying she didn’t think I’d want to come home to a dead friend. I was wiping tears off my face when she said that. It’s really scary how something so simple to us could be so life threatening for her. But she was being taken care of and feeling better. She came home six days after being admitted.
We’re still working hard training for the marathon. Kris wanted to be part of the fundraising, so I made her flyers a couple of weeks ago to send to her family and friends. She’s already raised $1,000. I can’t believe she did that while still going back and forth to the hospital every week for tests and medication. But then again, I can believe it. She’s a very strong person. She asked me to thank everyone for donating and all the positive mojo. It has really helped keep her going.
Kris just passed her 50th day of treatment. She’s half way there. She has to go back to City of Hope for a few days in May to give her something that will help boost her immune system. Then she’ll wear a pump at home for an additional 10 days to continue to deliver this medication into her. This will help her body fight off any illness as well as any leukemia that might still be in her. She is also having a biopsy on April 28th to see if her transplant is preventing the leukemia from coming back. Keep your fingers crossed!
We have had several requests to set up a Paypal account to receive more donations. Of course, I have no idea how to do that (I’m sure it’s something very simple and I’m just being a lame girl). Wil kept assuring me he would set it up as soon as he finished his book. He’s FINALLY done so now we’re all set. Of course this option does not allow for the tax deduction but if you aren’t concerned with that, then this is for you! We’re more than half way there but could really use your help reaching our $25,000 goal. We only have a couple of weeks left to get our donations in. Skip that Starbucks today and send a few bucks toward a wonderful cause. No matter what you donate, you can be part of helping Kris and so many others.
A note from Wil: I can’t take any credit for the awesome PayPal donation page, because all I did was e-mail my friend Russ and beg him for his help. Thank you, Russ. I owe you one.

About a month ago, I started reading The Biggest Game in Town. After a few pages, a trip to Vegas started looking really good to me. After a few chapters, a trip to Vegas started looking like something I had to do. After about half the book, I was deep in a full-on, hardcore, undeniable Vega$ Lust. It was powerful, man. I’d look at my watch and think, “You know what? If I left right now, I could be in Vegas in four hours!”
I’d often randomly shout out, “Vegas, baby! Vegas!” While puzzled strangers looked on in . . . strange puzzlement, I guess.
Since I was in the middle of the Just A Geek rewrite, It would have been rather irresponsible to go, and the best I could do was watch Swingers, read accounts of other bloggers’ trips to vegas, and play iPoker. Then, when I couldn’t play any more, I read the great poker blogs. Hell, I was even wistfully checking the Vegas moblog at Buzznet several times a day.
Yeah. Lust. Hardcore lust. (Heh. That ought to bring in some interesting google results.)
About two weeks ago, in the midst of The Lust, a WWdN reader sent me a link to this amazing Vegas story written by ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons.

For me, it isn’t even about Vegas as much anymore. When you hit your 30s, your friends settle in different cities, get hitched, pump out a kid, start working 50-to-60 hours a week … you look up one day and realize you haven’t seen three of your closest buddies in 15 months. Vegas becomes the great equalizer. There’s always that first glorious stretch with everyone sitting at the same blackjack table, throwing down drinks, cracking worn-out jokes and busting chops, when you realize that nothing has changed. Thank God.

It’s a fantastic column, and it could have been written about me and my friends . . . so I’ve totally fallen off the Vegas wagon.
I’m done with the rewrite now, so the big question for me becomes . . . “When can I get away from town for three days in a row, and am I taking my wife, or should I even try to get the guys together for the trip?”
You know what? I think I’m going to write a story about Vegas.
Vegas, baby.
Vegas.

This is hilarious. From BBSpot: Paramount Releases Highly Anticipated Service Pack for Star Trek.

Hollywood, CA – Paramount announced that it had released the long awaited service pack for the original Star Trek series. Entitled Star Trek: SP1, the patch includes fixes for technical goofs and other errors, which have nagged fans for decades.
Upgrading ShatnerParamount used the latest in digital editing technology to correct the errors and scoured newsgroups and interviewed fans to find all the problems they needed to correct. The service pack is available in DVD, VHS or in digital format from the Paramount website.
Paramount President Franz Pike said, “We fixed everything, from obvious errors like the glaring differences between Shatner and his stunt double to more obscure fixes like removing Spock’s ‘third ear’ in ‘The Immunity Syndrome.’ We think fans will be pleased.”

The full story is at BBSpot. Be sure to finsish any drinks before reading, to prevent monitor or keyboard damage.

I just saw my interview on The Screen Savers, and I have some thoughts.
Okay, wasn’t it cool that they took a screen shot of my site almost immediately after I wrote the “backstage . . .” entry?
Stuff I like: I’m generally happy with the way I carried myself. It’s always a strange balance of just wanting to talk about whatever comes to mind, while knowing that I’m there for a purpose (in this case, Barefoot). Anyone who has ever seen me speak knows that I tend to go on and on and off on tangents and stuff, and while that’s fine in a 60 minute talk, it’s not so good on a 6 minute TV segment. (By the way, anything more than 3 minutes is an eternity in TV time, and I’m incredibly lucky that I got as much time as I did today. I didn’t feel rushed at all.)
Now. On to the stuff I hate: Red shirt? Bad idea. Washed me out, and the angle I was sitting at really accentuated the Body By Guinness, with bonus double chin. Oh, and how pale I look! It must be the end of Winter. Also, the way I did my hair at 5 this morning ended up making me look all pointy-headed by the time I did TSS. I hope I didn’t look so . . . weird . . . on CFH.
I wish I’d mentioned TotalFark, Billmon and Talking Points Memo when I was asked about blogs I read every day . . . I’m not sure if TF is a “blog,” but it’s become one of my favorite places to spend time online over the past few months.
I also wish I hadn’t frozen up on the question about my favorite Open Source project . . . I mean, Konqueror? Quanta? PostNuke? PhpBB2? Nethack? OpenOffice.org? I don’t know . . . I answered honestly: there are just too many to pick one. But I still wish I’d had some sort of definitive answer. I feel like I pulled a Bush in the press conference moment and just rambled until I found some talking point to hit.
Overall? Very happy with the show I did today, and also very happy with the Call For Helps that I did (on Friday and Monday). Yeah, it was a good day. I didn’t even have to use my AK.

Greetings from the set of The Screen Savers!!
After five hours of restless and very disturbed sleep, I went to the airport this morning to come up to San Francisco. My favorite moment of the flight was when we climbed through the low-level clouds over Burbank and I watched the shadow of the plane climb up their sides.
One cab ride later I was at the TechTV Studios, and one bagel later I was rehearsing my first episode of Call For Help. One rehearsal later, I taped it. Goodtimes.
Then lunch, then second episode, and now I’m waiting to do my segment, which starts in about fifteen minutes.
You know what? I love being here for these shows. Everyone who works here always treats me well, they’re very professional, and I always have a really good time.
My Call For Help shows air on Friday and Monday, and of course I’ll be on Screen Savers just a few minutes.
Uh-oh. Time to get ready for the show.