My life has changed so much – and in such wonderful ways – that the original tone and usual content you found here just isn’t who I am right now. However, there’s still so much I’d like to share with those of you I’ve come to adore over the years. Expect an email from me in coming weeks with a link to the new site.

As for the Atomic Bombshell, she will not fade into oblivion just yet. In fact, I plan to relaunch this site to cover my passion for cycling. Eventually, I hope to help build a local cycling team and utilize this site as the communications hub for that group. Or who knows, maybe it can even serve to support female cyclists and related events throughout the region.

Here’s to new beginnings!

Back to my first point: the Ninja and I will finally be moving into our own little love nest. There will be plenty of work to do. After the packing and unpacking there will be painting, decorating, and eventually upgrades to the kitchen and bathroom. Fortunately, I will have plenty of extra time to take care of these things once my job ends in two weeks. Every time the economy takes a dive, marketing takes the first hit.

Which leads me to news item two: I’ll be returning to college in January, studying for a degree in Management Information Systems. Although I’ve really enjoyed the last 15 years I spent making other companies and individuals wealthy, I’ve grown weary of this roller coaster. My last layoff was after 9/11 and I’m seeing a trend. Time to make a transition.

Now that I think about it, I guess my New Year’s resolutions are all set: A new home, learning new skills, and working toward a new career. That’s plenty to bite off and chew on for a year or more! How about you? What things, great and small, do you plan to tackle in 2009?

So, umm… You know how almost everybody wants a Wii, but (at least where we live) they’ve been chronically difficult to find in stock? Well, umm… The most fantastical boyfriend ever tracked one down at a local Game Stop and presented me with it on Valentine’s Day. And, umm… Since then, I’ve been so “busy” that I neglected to post about it.

My Ninja also hooked me up with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Super Mario Galaxy, both of which are terribly fun. Even the Sports game that comes with the console is a blast. Of course, the very next day I scooped up all my old games and traded them in (what a joke, I still had to fork out a chunk of change on top of that) for Guitar Hero.

And speaking of that game, I am reminded that my dear Smizzo wanted to know the details about a matter involving a certain famous lady whose first name starts with “O” and if you’ve been following me on Twitter, you already know I was busy playing Guitar Hero with the kids, so I missed out on being introduced… and honestly, I don’t mind.

When the birthday party started to buzz, I knew exactly what was up. However, after spending all night yearning to get away from the adults to spend some time with two of my favorite kids on earth, there was no way I was going to send the message that anything else was more important than playing with them. It was an easy decision.

Though I’m nearly a week late, it’s been a while since I did one of these weekly “Top Tens” and this one made me smile, so here you go:

This Week’s Topic: Ten Best Games

1. TETRIS – Nearly wore out the buttons on my Motorola SLVR because of this game. My high scores would blow your mind. As an unexpected bonus, mad Tetris skillz have a real-life application: You can pack and move all your household belongings into storage in under five hours.

2. KINGDOM OF LOATHING – If you’ve ever played an online text-based RPG you’ll love this game. The NPC concepts and combat messages are hilarious, and some of the quests could drive you to drink, but that’s ok because drinking earns you extra turns each day. Trust me and try it.

3. MONOPOLY – Though most people probably burn out on this one after a few tries, there’s a special breed of people who don’t tire of this classic board game. I’m one of them. These days the game goes much faster thanks to computers taking care of tedious manual tasks.

4. SETTLERS OF CATAN – Not your usual board game, simple to pick up and fun to master, this game puts your mind to work. With a little bit of luck and a decent strategy your colony will claim victory.

5. APPLES TO APPLES – An interactive card game, mostly for kids, which is more about how well you know the people you’re playing with than anything else. This game gave me and the step kids so many laughs.

6. SUPER MARIO BROS – There’s a good reason why this is the best selling video game of all time: It’s fun! My mom withstood my begging and pleading for a video gaming console until the NES came out, but after that I spent a large chunk of my childhood playing this game.

7. CHEZ GEEK – I have to thank PJ for this one. He brought it with him on his visit from Canada and I liked this card game so much that I got my own deck after he left. Now I just need to find a geek to play with.

8. MAJOR MUD – It may not be as widely known as World of Warcraft, but I must pay homage to a precursor to that modern-day classic. Though I’ve made so many good friends playing MajorMUD, please take my advice and never marry anyone you met in an RPG.

9. CAESAR & CLEOPATRA – Not many people know of this card game, but it won awards when it came out in 1998. Game play and strategy are fun and simple, and I like the elegant shape and design of the cards.

10. MINDTRAP – This is another game that most of you probably haven’t heard of, but I really like it. It involves solving logical riddles, and some of them are so difficult, they’ll really get your gears turning.

BONUS: Don’t forget the ARCADE GAMES here at Atomic Bombshell. Choose from Pac Man, Asteroids, Tetris, Space Invaders, Hexxagon, Simon, Snake, and Tic-Tac-Toe. Always here and ready for you to play.

You’ve probably heard of Nike+ since the kit has been around a while, but they just unveiled two new gift packs in time for the holidays, one with an iPod nano included (nicknamed the “fatty” for obvious reasons) and one without. If you already have a first or second generation iPod nano the kit is fully compatible, but it doesn’t work with other models. Perhaps they’re trying to keep you light on your feet.

Want to know what’s so special about this little bit of gadgetry? Let me tell you. This thing is a lot more than a pedometer. (In fact, it’s really an accelerometer, but we won’t go into all the boring techinical stuff here.) What really makes Nike+ special is that it’s interactive.

Here’s how it works: you connect the Bluetooth adapter to your iPod nano, attach the sensor to your left shoe (and no, you don’t need the special shoes, there are plenty of other options), link the two items through the Nike+ iPod settings menu, and then start running.

You can choose a goal for your run, whether it’s a particular distance, amount of time, or number of calories. During your workout you’ll listen to music and receive periodic verbal progress messages. (”Two miles completed” for example.) When you’re finished you’ll receive a summary of your run stats, and if you broke a record you’ll be congratulated.

The fun doesn’t stop there. When you sync your iPod with Nike+ online you can participate in goals and challenges and earn virtual trophies. For example, I’ve set a goal to run 10 times in 4 weeks, and joined a challenge to complete a “marathon” (26.2 miles) by Thanksgiving. Nike+ automatically charts your progress and even offers widget codes to share your results on your blog. (View mine from the main page.)

So, if you’re wondering what to put on your Christmas list, I’d like to offer this as a little suggestion. And if a few of you are interested in taking advantage of this tool as part of your overall fitness regimen, I’ll even set up some goals and challenges just for us, so let me know!

For a decade I was loyal to Samsung mobile phones. Never had a problem. Switched carriers and picked up a Motorola. Big mistake. You’d think with the one-year warranty I’d be fairly well covered, but no. Replacements are refurbs. It would appear that refurbished means still not working, because three phones later I’m still having trouble.

Much to my amazement, when I recently called about this series of events and to report that my latest phone began to malfunction (note: warranty expired) they weren’t totally heartless. After informing me that the SLVR is no longer available, they decided to sell me the new phone of my choice at the price a brand new subscriber would pay.

Not only does that suck for the obvious reason, but also because there are no phones I’m excited about right now. I’m with AT&T so you’d think the iPhone would be a slam-dunk, but I’ve heard mixed reviews. Especially regarding the on-screen keyboard. So please, oh wise ones, fire away with your recommendations, and thank you in advance.

Crashed the Star Wars 30th anniversary Celebration IV at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Memorial Day. Second only to the spectacle of seeing fans of all ages decked out in costume, I was most curious to see the Vader Project: a bunch of my favorite pop artists were invited to use a Darth helmet as a canvas. It was everything I’d hoped. Took some pictures with the crappy camera on my mobile phone, but you’re better off viewing everyone else’s pics on Flickr.

May the force be with you!

Over three years ago I proposed that we change our corporate name. After presenting my rationale, the board agreed. What came after was a needlessly long and painful process, because our management team severely lacks trigger-pullers. Over the course of that excruciating wait, all of our print collateral ran out or became outdated.

Though I tried hard to keep things moving where fiscal sense allowed, churning out promotions and miscellaneous stuff, it was an uphill battle to grow the business without the essentials in place. The “hurry up and wait” of the name change project wore not only on my nerves, but on my ability to take pride in my work.

After two and a half years poised on the starting block waiting for the gun to fire, they finally selected a name last August, and since then I’ve been off and running. To say I was busy over the last eight months would be an understatement. Logo, tagline, branding, website, mailers, booklets, brochures, signs, merchandise, posters, badges… Oh my!

I’m a one-person marketing department, so it was up to me to get everything ready for the April launch. Now that’s behind me, but my work life still doesn’t show any signs of slowing. In fact, with a more solid foundation in place, the frontier now seems wide open. After a long period of waiting, it feels good to make a positive impact again.

The labor of marketing is strikingly similar to bearing a child: conception, gestation, delivery. Each phase has a proper duration and things must happen in a certain order. The final output depends upon the quality of what was accomplished in those formative stages, however, if you drag any of it out too long you’ll endanger the mother.

If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy, and this little momma is only happy when she’s being effective. Knowing it wasn’t right to print short collateral runs with the name change looming didn’t help me feel any better about being less productive. Certainly it wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t work at one-third capacity and call it a job well done.

Once I read that procrastination was a major cause of depression, but since I’ve learned that being forced to put things off is even worse. Creative people need to run with ideas instead of waiting to be cleared for launch. Though I now have tons to add to my resume, I’m slightly more impressed by the personal trial I endured to get there.

Wheew… Time to get back to work!

Tomorrow is my big day! Looking forward to when I’ll be able to type again… Don’t you think I haven’t had plenty of thoughts brewing in the meantime. They’re all waiting to explode on this page in coming days. Love to all of you… Be back soon!

PS: I’d love to work on a new skin for the site during the week of the 27th, so if any of you brilliant CSS junkies are inspired, please feel free to send your ideas my way… It’s about time for something fresh.